Crime Changes in Baltimore, 1970-1994 (ICPSR 2352)

These data were collected to examine the relationships
among crime rates, residents' attitudes, physical deterioration, and
neighborhood structure in selected urban Baltimore neighborhoods. The
data collection provides both block- and individual-level neighborhood
data for two time periods, 1981-1982 and 1994. The block-level files
(Parts 1-6) include information about physical conditions, land use,
people counts, and crime rates. Parts 1-3, the block assessment files,
contain resear... (more info)

These data were collected to examine the relationships
among crime rates, residents' attitudes, physical deterioration, and
neighborhood structure in selected urban Baltimore neighborhoods. The
data collection provides both block- and individual-level neighborhood
data for two time periods, 1981-1982 and 1994. The block-level files
(Parts 1-6) include information about physical conditions, land use,
people counts, and crime rates. Parts 1-3, the block assessment files,
contain researchers' observations of street layout, traffic, housing
type, and general upkeep of the neighborhoods. Part 1, Block
Assessments, 1981 and 1994, contains the researchers' observations of
sampled blocks in 1981, plus selected variables from Part 3 that
correspond to items observed in 1981. Nonsampled blocks (in Part 2)
are areas where block assessments were done, but no interviews were
conducted. The "people counts" file (Part 4) is an actual count of
people seen by the researchers on the sampled blocks in 1994.
Variables for this file include the number, gender, and approximate
age of the people seen and the types of activities they were engaged
in during the assessment. Part 5, Land Use Inventory for Sampled
Blocks, 1994, is composed of variables describing the types of
buildings in the neighborhood and their physical condition. Part 6,
Crime Rates and Census Data for All Baltimore Neighborhoods,
1970-1992, includes crime rates from the Baltimore Police Department
for aggravated assault, burglary, homicide, larceny, auto theft, rape,
and robbery for 1970-1992, and census information from the 1970, 1980,
and 1990 United States Censuses on the composition of the housing
units and the age, gender, race, education, employment, and income of
residents. The individual-level files (Parts 7-9) contain data from
interviews with neighborhood leaders, as well as telephone surveys of
residents. Part 7, Interviews with Neighborhood Leaders, 1994,
includes assessments of the level of involvement in the community by
the organization to which the leader belongs and the types of
activities sponsored by the organization. The 1982 and 1994 surveys of
residents (Parts 8 and 9) asked respondents about different aspects of
their neighborhoods, such as physical appearance, problems, and crime
and safety issues, as well as the respondents' level of satisfaction
with and involvement in their neighborhoods. Demographic information
on respondents, such as household size, length of residence, marital
status, income, gender, and race, is also provided in this file.

A downloadable version of data for this study is available however, certain identifying information in the downloadable version may have been masked or edited to protect respondent privacy. Additional data not included in the downloadable version are available in a restricted version of this data collection. For more information about the differences between the downloadable data and the restricted data for this study, please refer to the codebook notes section of the PDF codebook. Users interested in obtaining restricted data must complete and sign a Restricted Data Use Agreement, describe the research project and data protection plan, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

The user guide, codebook, and data collection
instruments are provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The
PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be
accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided
through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
These data were collected to examine the
relationships among crime rates, residents' attitudes, physical
deterioration, and neighborhood structure in selected urban Baltimore
neighborhoods. The original 1981-1982 study was designed to model
neighborhood-level responses to disorder. The purpose of the 1994
study was to see (1) how residents' reactions to crime had changed
between 1982 and 1994, and (2) if either neighborhood-perceived
incivilities, or neighborhood-assessed incivilities, in 1982 helped
predict changes in residents' reactions to crime between 1982 and
1994, after controlling for neighborhood structure and crime.

Study Design:
The block-level files contain information about
crime rates, physical conditions, land use, and people counts. The
crime rate data consist of yearly Part I index crimes obtained from
the Baltimore Police Department for all of Baltimore's 277
ecologically-defined neighborhoods, as well as end-of-decade crime
rates and percentiles. Census block characteristics from the 1970,
1980, and 1990 United States Censuses are also presented. The block
environment assessments and land use inventories were conducted by
researchers who were given specific criteria to use in describing the
physical attributes of the homes and other buildings in the
neighborhoods. The people counts were performed by researchers driving
around the study blocks, counting the number of people they observed
and categorizing them by age, gender, and activity. To minimize the
subjectivity of such assessments, the block assessments, land use
inventories, and people counts were conducted by pairs of raters who
individually assessed the same blocks. Reliability measures and
average ratings were then calculated. The individual-level files
contain surveys of residents from 1982 and 1994, as well as interviews
with neighborhood leaders from 1994. The interviews for 1982 were
conducted by phone, unless the respondent could not be reached that
way, and all of the 1994 interviews were administered using CATI
(computer-aided telephone interviewing). The community leaders'
interviews were conducted in person.

Sample:
In 1981, 66 neighborhoods were randomly sampled from the
236 neighborhoods in Baltimore for block assessment. In 1982,
households on these blocks were selected for the resident survey
through multistage random sampling. In 1994, 30 neighborhoods from the
66 chosen in 1981 were selected using stratified sampling based on
crime data and availability of 1981 block physical assessment data and
residential telephone numbers. Households in 1994 were selected
through a series of replicate samples until the minimum block quota
was reached.

Data Source:

(1) nonparticipant observation, (2) crime records of
the Baltimore Police Department, (3) 1970, 1980, and 1990 United
States Censuses of Population and Housing, (4) personal interviews,
and (5) telephone interviews

Description of Variables:
The block assessment files (Parts 1-3) contain
researchers' observations of street layout, traffic, housing type, and
general upkeep of the neighborhoods. Part 1, Block Assessments, 1981
and 1994, contains the researchers' observations of sampled blocks in
1981, plus selected variables from Part 3 that correspond to the items
observed in 1981. Nonsampled blocks (in Part 2) are areas where block
assessments were done, but no interviews were conducted. These
nonsampled blocks had been assessed in 1981 and were located in the 36
neighborhoods sampled in 1981 but not in 1994. Two blocks from each of
the 36 neighborhoods were sampled. The "people counts" file (Part 4)
is an actual count of people seen by the researchers on the sampled
blocks in 1994. Variables for this file include the number, gender,
and approximate age of the people seen and the types of activities
they were engaged in during the assessment. Part 5, Land Use Inventory
for Sampled Blocks, 1994, is composed of variables describing the
types of buildings in the neighborhood and their physical
condition. Part 6, Crime Rates and Census Data for All Baltimore
Neighborhoods, 1970-1992, includes crime rates from the Baltimore
Police Department for aggravated assault, burglary, homicide, larceny,
auto theft, rape, and robbery for 1970-1992, and census information
for 1970, 1980, and 1990 on the composition of the housing units and
the age, gender, race, education, employment, and income of city
residents. Part 7, Interviews with Neighborhood Leaders, 1994,
includes assessments of the level of involvement in the community by
the organization to which the leader belonged and types of activities
sponsored by the organization. The 1982 and 1994 surveys of residents
(Parts 8 and 9) asked respondents about different aspects of their
neighborhoods, such as physical appearance, problems, and crime and
safety issues, as well as the respondents' level of satisfaction with
and involvement in their neighborhoods. Demographic information on
respondents, such as household size, length of residence, marital
status, income, gender, and race, is also provided in this file.

Response Rates:
The average response rate for 1982 was 87
percent. The response rate for 1994 was 76 percent.

Presence of Common Scales:
Several Likert-type scales were used.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Standardized missing values.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1998-10-08

Version History:

2006-03-30 File CB2352.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one
or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well
as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable,
and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to
reflect these additions.

1999-09-15 A new neighborhood number variable was added to
Part 8 that matches the neighborhood number in the other data files,
making it possible to merge this file with the other data files.